Of course it’s a good idea to use Jake’s Parker prompts, but they can been see has somewhat vague. I don’t think it’s a bad thing that it’s so vague, on the contrary, it’s a good way for you to create a unique Inktober challenge for yourself by mixing the prompts with your own theme.
And it’s exactly what I’m doing : I’m taking the prompts as much as can and mixing it up with my theme.
Ok I’ll stop making you wait and tell you about my theme right now :
Famous French Women from the middle ages.
Research for my theme in my sketchbook.
I think it’s a good way for me to fulfill two wishes : draw a variety of women characters that my portfolio is lacking and also knowing history a little better. I will admit that my knowledge on the subject is very lacking.
To know a bit more the 10 women I have picked, and to choose who to pick, I’ve had to do a bit of research. The hardest part was of course to mix their history with the actual Inktober prompts. Not an easy theme.
Also you will probably wonder, 10 women doesn’t make 31 days ! And yes, my plan isn’t perfect. But hear me out.
To stay into my theme and to fill the month of Inktober with it as much as possible. I’ve decided to illustrate two or three scenes from these women’s lives. And if there is still blanks after that I’ll just do a bunch of fan art of women from movies, anime and comics that I love.
In the end I will still have a body of work featuring these women, and that’s what I am expecting. And I will also have created a few fan art for a future event that I will talk about after Inktober passes.
Fair don’t you think ?
Thank you for reading this article, to continue the story I’ve made a video about Inktober where I show the first sketches I made in preparation of the challenge.
Next week I’ll post an update of how Inktober is going, if you can’t wait it start tuesday on my instagram
Bonjour ! Let’s see how we can train our inking skills to be ready for inktober 2019 !
What ? Doing homework before Inktober ? What is that !
You probably reading this.
You will see, I just want to help you start Inktober in the best condition possible. And Getting in the best condition is knowing your tools before Inktober starts. So I invite you to do a few simple exercises to train your hand before Inktober. This way you will be able to do the best art possible. I will be doing these exercises too. It can help me get the best of my art.
These advises are if you want to take Inktober as a challenge to better yourself. Of course you can take Inktober as a fun and chill game, and it is absolutely fine too ! Everyone eperience Inktober differently. This year I have decided to take it as a challenge. I will create 31 great ink illustrations that I will be proud to show together.
First of all : this exercise is good for everyone who want to learn inking, learn to use a paintbrush but also to those who want to learn how to ink on the computer !
All tools are good to ink and let’s all improve our skills !
It’s time ! Grab your Inktober pens and tools and follow along :
1/ Train to draw lines with ink.
The first exercise is to draw lines. Make two points and try to link them with your pen/brush . Go over this line 7 times and try to do the thinnest line possible.
NO RULERS ALLOWED ! It’s against the whole purpose of the exercise.
Tips : Breathe and don’t go too fast ! It’s all about being focused.
2/ Train to draw circles and Ellipses.
Now you have some lines, draw in-between your lines, circles and ellipses. See my exemple picture to see what I mean. Here too it requires a bit of focus. And we all know circles are one of the hardest thing to do by hand. Don’t get discouraged and always take your time.
Tips : Try doing your circle slightly above the paper, without touching it at first to test your movement. Then ink.
3/ Doing curves.
Now this inking exercise is much like the 1/ except instead of 2 points to make a line : place 3 or 4 points and link the points with your pen. It will create a curve. Then go over it 7 times to train your hand.
Tips : Try to look in advance with you eyes where your hand needs to go.
How my inking training page looks like in the end.
4/ Playing with the weight of your tool for inking.
This exercise is only if you are using a tool that can be variable like a paint brush, a computer brush or a dip pen. So I’ll take the exemple of a paint brush. It is what I will be using to ink some of my artworks for Inktober.
The exercise change slightly for tools using weight. But the “1/Train to draw lines with ink” doesn’t change since you want to do the most homogeneous line possible. Meaning a line with the same thickness from beginning to end.
For the “2/Train to draw circles and Ellipses” try doing your circle like this : thin when you go up, thick when you go down.
“Thin when going up, Thick when going down” here goes the inking song.
Also you can add one exercise : between two lines do a series of waves, thin when you go up, thick when you go down. This exercise is also often used to train for calligraphy and is not so easy to master. But I know you can do it ! If I managed to do it, so do you !
This is no simple exercises but you will learn how to master your brush, dip pen or any tool of varying weight !
This is how you train your inking skills and get ready for Inktober!
Why should I train at inking ?
What should you train your inking and get ready for Inktober ? To do better art of course ! Isn’t it all what Inktober is about? (and the fun too …)
Also because these exercises forces you to use your hand in a precise way. And to get used to go over your line (for exemple your sketch) in a more accurate way. If you often think you sketch is better than your inked drawing. These exercises are made for you !
A few inking sketches I did after the exercises.
Of course I’m far from mastering my tools perfectly ! But I am planning on doing these exercises during this last week so I can feel more confident about my lines. If you do these a lot you will create what is called “muscle memory”. It means that these movements will be carved into your hand’s muscle memory ( just like “I must not tell lie” in Harry’s hand in The order of the Phoenix but without the pain…). It will be easier and easier to ink with time.
These exercise actually doesn’t come from me. It’s part of a bigger lesson called “Dynamic Sketching ” by Peter Han. You can find the video of introduction here and it is over all very good advice to get better at drawing.
Thank you for reading this article !
I hope it helped you improve your inking and have a better confidence in yourself.
So are you ready for Inktober now ?! I’m not so… I’ll go training at inking some more !
I have already decided what tools to use for Inktober ! There is often a big discussion on the internet when comes the time of Inktober, can I ink digitally ? Do I have to only use inks ? Can I use this or this tool ?
The answer is yes ! Of course you can !
For me the purpose of this challenge is to improve yourself. Yes at first it was about learning how to ink. But I think these days it is more about improving your art.
I think Jake Parker, the creator of the challenge tells it too, it’s all about learning to use your tools better and becoming better artists. So just do it with what you want to be better at !
For my part I like to use traditional tools during Inktober. In my previous years I always used traditional medias. Of course I do love paper more than anything. I love the computer as well but it’s not the same feeling and I will always go toward traditional tools first. It is something that has been true for the last few years.
There is so many pen types available to you.
Traditional media is my thing !
So what tools am I going to use for Inktober ?
I recently put back into order a set of Rotring pen and old Faber castell pens that my dad owned. My dad did a lot of technical drawing when he was younger and had a huge set of the famous rotring along with a few other brands. Rotrings are pens that are made for a lifetime.
These pens are obviously very good quality and even if it was not so easy to clean them up they are truely the best tools to do Inktober !
Before that I used Copic Multiliner, they are very very good cheaper counterparts to the Rotring. What I love about the Multiliners is that you can easily change any used parts of it to a new one. On the other hand, now that I have tried the Rotring, I feel sad at amount of disposable part that the copic make. Wouldn’t it be much better to have pen for life and not create more garbage ? I always wonder.
Another tool I want to train myself in using is a paintbrush. I still feel very stiff and not in control with a brush pen. About that I will show you in a next article how to get a better control of you pens, brush and any tools that you might want to use for Inktober. A little warming up if you like !
My choice of pen and brush for Inktober.
So my tools are for this Inktober :
A small Winsor and Newton series 1 brush
Rotring pens of varying size
Indian ink
watercolor
Canson Montval 300gr
The watercolor I will use my own watercolor, if you’ve read the article linked here, you know I make my own colors. I wish to use one or two for Inktober. I don’t want to add much color and stay to the black and white in general but I am not against a little dash of color.
What will be your tooks for this year’s Inktober’s challenge ?
I am very curious about it 🙂
Thanks a lot for reading me! Have you noticed ? I’m getting serious about this blogging thing, it feels great !
Yes this year again I am doing the Inktober challenge! Like every year my fingers tickle at the idea of doing this awesome drawing challenge. I like a good push like this. It is always a good way to prove to yourself that yes, you can do it. And also to create a body of work that will be the memory of that period in your life.
I dearly value my art memories because they remind me of the artist I am at that time.
My participation to Inktober in 2015, 2016 and 2017 was in these sketchbooks !
What is Inktober ?
Some of you may know it but maybe not everyone, so let me tell you about this now unavoidable challenge on the internet art spheres:
Inktober is a yearly challenge that take place during the month of October. The goal is to do a drawing a day during October, which means making 31 drawing.
The initial challenge was to make these drawing in ink. Inktober being the compression of “Ink” and “October”.
ANYONE CAN DO INKTOBER,JUST PICK UP A PEN AND START DRAWING.
The challenge was originally created by an American artist called Jake Parker that wanted to improve his inking skills. And it’s really what the challenge is all about, getting better and improving our art skills.
Some of the drawing made during Inktober of the previous years.
It’s really what I want this year : I want to get better.
If you followed me a little on Instagram you might have already seen that during the summer I worked hard on my anatomy skills. I’m happy of the progress so far. So I feel like this year is kind of a fresh start for me, improved skill, new art, things are going to be good !
To spice up the challenge Jake Parker publish every year a prompt of theme for each day. Some decide on following these some don’t. This year I have decided to follow it as much as I can as long as it fit my own theme (I will not talk about my theme today but I swear I’m excited about it).
Last year I did my challenge with Linocut.
I loved it because I did learn a new skill but at the same it wasn’t really like being part of Inktober since I only did 5 illustrations.
Check my video from last year showing me carving one of the illustration.
The year before wasn’t so good for me, I had attempted to do a small artbook with my art from Inktober and have it funded on Kickstarter.
Of course it failed.
I see why now, my art was not good enough or mature enough. Long story short, I feel better with my art right now and even if I won’t start a new Kickstarter I’m ready to do great art and more than anything finish the challenge.
Are you doing Inktober as well?
Hello!
Hi! I'm Isabelle Arné, and here you'll find my comics. Dive into magical realms with big landscapes and heartfelt tales. Your comments brighten my day and make my creative journey worthwhile. Don't hesitate to share your thoughts below each page! Enjoy your read.
Know that comics are here both in French and English! Pick your language!
Sache que les BD ici sont à la fois en français et en anglais ! Choisis ta langue !
